Adam-ondi-Ahman – Last Days Decoded

When we think of the coming events of the Last Days, how many of us think it will be a “Feast of Fat Things”? Not many – if any – but the book of Isaiah is clear about the Lord’s promises to His faithful:

Isaiah 25: 3-4, 6, 8-9:
1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
6 ¶ And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people A FEAST OF FAT THINGS, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

But aren’t these amazing promises? They’re echoed a little differently in D&C 58:1-21, but with still powerful reassurance. This doesn’t mean that the phrase “Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord” is only GREAT. It will also be DREADFUL and we can see many signs of those times coming at a gallop. The reason for this dichotomy is that Satan and God/Christ are at war, have very different methods, and provide us with opposition in all things (2 Nephi 2:11).

Satan works by FEAR and the Lord works by FAITH (see related BLOG). The Lord creates boundaries for how far Satan can go in each of our lives and nations, although it doesn’t usually feel like it. If people who experience near-death experiences can be believed, we all at least agreed to the adversities we would face in this life and some probably even volunteered for them, for added glory in the next life (implied in Revelation 20:4). And if you carefully study God’s “appointed times,” you will see how He also regulates the flow of history to create a beginning and end to global adversities. See my related blog posts: God’s “Appointments” With Man and God’s “Appointments” For Great Events. If the Lord could exactly time the events of the last week of Christ’s life to match the 3 celebrations around Passover, how much more can He orchestrate events and their timing in our lives?

To reiterate from my recent talk, Approaching Adam-ondi-Ahman, at the Book of Mormon Evidence Conference on April 6, 2023, we in America only get to the “Feast of Fat Things” at Adam-ondi-Ahman, grace for grace just as Christ did in His early life (D&C 93:18-20). At the last minute, the Spirit directed me to the image below, which speaks powerfully about our climb from the darkness of the Telestial world up our own individual progression to the Celestial glory in the Church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:52-54). We then end up qualified to be there when Christ comes to the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. With each victory, we stand on higher ground, in greater light.

We are symbolically in an enclosed stone tower and, if we’re lucky, we’ll have a few small windows looking out on the promised glory, to keep us going in this relatively drab and often very scary world. So I want to share some of the “dishes” that will be served up to us at the final feast – hopefully for you to store away and trot out when you need a dose of hope!

Our Symbolic *Upward* Journey to Adam-ondi-Ahman
Inside the **Arc de Triomphe**, Public Domain Image

When we finally get to the top, we find where our own personal tower of growth and suffering ends: in a high place of glory, and literally at the coming of Christ at Adam-ondi-Ahman (D&C 88:95-98). In that promised glory, we will witness and assist in the great gathering of the 12 Tribes, symbolized by the 12 roads leading to this Paris landmark, the renowned Arc de Triomphe, and where this dark stairway actually goes, up onto its roof:

Aerial view of Arc de Triomphe, Paris – Licensed for use by shutterstock.com

Compare the long climb up that dark tower with the wonder and glory of emerging on top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, built to commemorate France’s great military victories of the past, symbolic of our own personal triumphs.

Not only will you be crowned with deliverance, glory, and eternal rewards at Adam-ondi-Ahman, but you will be in a spiritual leadership position to see the entire gathering of the 12 Tribes of Israel, to participate in the building of the New Jerusalem, and then watch Zion spread out across America, then North America, safe in God’s protective care. While the rest of the world battles it out during Armageddon and is pummeled by the Abomination of Desolation, faithful seekers are rescued out of them by the 144,000, then brought to us, their nursing mothers and nursing fathers (1 Nephi 21:22-23). It’s hard to imagine a more glorious ending to our mortal Telestial struggles. Then read how an early Patriarch, Charles D. Evans describes Life in Zion:

The light of the gospel, which had but dimly shown because of abomination, now burst forth with a luster that filled the earth.
Cities appeared in every direction, one of which, in the center of the continent, was an embodiment of architectural science after the pattern of eternal perfections, whose towers glittered with a radiance emanating from the sparkling of emeralds, rubies, diamonds and other precious stones set in a canopy of gold and so elaborately and skillfully arranged as to shed forth a brilliancy which dazzled and enchanted the eye, excited admiration and developed a taste for the beautiful, beyond anything man had ever conceived.
Fountains of crystal water shot upward their transparent jets in the brilliant sunshine . . . .
Gardens, the perfections of whose arrangement confound all our present attempts at genius. . . .
Schools and universities were erected, to which all had access; in the latter Urims were placed, for the study of the past, present and future . . . .
All learning was based on eternal certainty.
Angels brought forth the treasures of knowledge which had lain hid in the womb of the dumb and distant past.
(published in The Contributor magazine in 1894; full version at www.NoFearPreps.com and in her book, The Great Gathering, pp 50-52)

Under Christ, Ephraim will manage the world’s government from the New Jerusalem and in spiritual partnership with tribe of Judah in the old Jerusalem – 2 capital cities. Finally the abuses and excesses of “wickedness in high places” will be vanquished, and one Mighty and Strong will lead us:

Isaiah 2:3 – 2 Capitals during the Millennium:
. . . Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(See also Micah 4:2 and 2 Nephi 12:3)

D&C 85:7:
7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God;

We have this and many other promises of eternity to anticipate:

From the Prophet Brigham Young:
Let me here say a word to console the feelings and hearts of all who belong to this Church. Many of the sisters grieve because they are not blessed with offspring. You will see the time when you will have millions of children around you. If you are faithful to your covenants, you will be mothers of nations. You will become Eves to earths like this, and when you have assisted in peopling one earth, there are millions of others still in the course of creation. And when they have endured a thousand million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were at the beginning of your creation. Be faithful and if you are not blessed with children in this time, you will be hereafter. (Deseret News, Vol 10, p 306, Oct 14, 1860)
And guys, you will be needed too . . . creating whole worlds, together with your own Eve!

For more inspiration, watch Michael Rush’s wonderful video on YouTube: Reality is Not What You Think It is . . . FYI: The second half contains most of the meat.

Finally, remember the words of an old man who suddenly stood up at the back of his Sunday School class that was criticizing the Willey and Martin Handcart companies for “foolishly” leaving for Utah so late in the year: You know nothing about it. What I experienced to come to know my Savior was WORTH IT, and I would do it again. That silenced the critics, and are “words to remember” when times look extra dark. God’s purpose is to refine us enough to qualify for all His promised blessings.

So onward and upward – Listen to some of my favorite music to put some pep in your step when you feel down, then add your own links in the Comments section:

Savior, Redeemer of My Soul – Dallyn Bayles and Jenny Oaks Baker
The Prayer – Tabernacle Choir with Katherine Jenkins and intro by composer David Foster
Come Go With Me – Kenneth Cope
Ye Elders of Israel – Priesthood Conference choir
Hope of Israel – Sung by us ordinary singers in General Conference
Nearer, My God, to Thee – Vocal Point
Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus– The Romanian Foundation for Excellence in Music, International Music Festival 2014 – a reminder that we have many brothers and sisters not yet gathered – and a benediction on you all!

I bought a house in Middleton, Idaho, in 2016 and could at last fulfill my dream of having a rose garden. My five bushes flourished, and I had roses from June to early November. I gave them away to neighbors, friends, and to the darling boy who mowed my lawn – to give to his deserving single mother.

One fall I took a photo of the last bouquet, noting the frost damage on the petal edges. I posted it on Facebook with this message: The “Last Rose of Summer” from my front garden. We’ve had several nights of frost and my roses are showing its damage along the edges of the petals. Just like their owner, they are past their prime. But I’ve discovered over the summer that roses smell their sweetest as they ripen and wilt. I hope I can share the fragrant fruits of a long life with those around me before the last petal drops from my soul….

My granddaughter and I couldn’t bear to toss these blooms when they were finally dead “as a doornail” so we didn’t! They live on in my kitchen completely dry and many petals gone. But there’s still a macabre beauty in what remains, and the Fallen Petals speak poignantly of summer days gone by and hopefully life well lived.

*Dead Roses, Fallen Petals*, Author’s Photo

As I reflect on this life-and-death cycle, I see that people are a lot like roses. We emerge as buds, bloom while sending out wonderful scent, only to finally drop our petals and die as all mortal creation must. Those petals are the scent of what we leave behind, the legacy for others to build on.

My parents left a rich heritage of talent, deep integrity, and great love for their six children, many grandchildren and now great grandchildren. After my mother’s funeral in 2005, I saw her vibrant energy flowing through all of us in various ways. My Dad’s solid work ethic and absolute honesty lives on in both my children and their other descendants.

Many others have left petals of legacy in my life. Here are two:

Helen was my parents’ neighbor in Iowa City and was a Professor of Russian at the University of Iowa. Here she is sitting on their patio in a characteristic pose of peace and attention turned outward, but eyes tinged with sadness. Her father was ousted from his university position during the Bolshevik Revolution. She was lucky to escape the Siege of Leningrad with her two sons during WWII. (Her books, including Siege and Survival, are well worth reading.) After working as a waitress in Paris, she finally emigrated to America, teaching Russian to American servicemen, then finally landing a stable faculty position in Iowa. Her youngest son was later killed in an earthquake while traveling in Eastern Europe, and she told us she had been reduced to what she could take in one suitcase four times in her life. But carrying on, she took in boarders, kept in touch with former students all her life, and made continual lemonade from the lemons life handed her. She loved people, and oh, how we loved her!

Alma was a wonderful Menonite woman who came to work for my mother to cook large batches of food about once a month. I loved to come home after school and banter with her. She didn’t brook any nonsense but always had a twinkle in her eye and love in her voice. My mother later told me she was the child the family designated to stay home and take care of their aging parents, denying her a family of her own. She never complained and just got on with it. Far more than the tasty cookies she made is the lingering taste of her good humor, devotion, and service.

The petals of memory from these treasured people have never lost their fragrance. The longer I live, the more indebted I feel to those who’ve gone before but aren’t really gone. I can hardly wait for the great reunion beyond the veil, but until then I’m tending my own petals, nurturing their scent, and hope it falls on many souls.

I wrote this in 2019 and am updating it here for my current audience who, with me, are preparing for “The End Times” when Christ returns to rule and reign during a thousand years of peace. To help bolster our courage and faith for the trials ahead, I’d like to quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle in my church who passed on some years ago. He comments about who will be at the glorious appearance of Adam/Michael, then all the heads of dispensations from him until now, and then capped by an appearance of our Savior at Adam-ondi-Ahman:

. . . . before all these [Second Comings], there is to be a secret appearance
to selected members of his Church.
He will come in private to his prophet and to the apostles then living.
Those who have held keys and powers and authorities in all ages
from Adam to the present will also be present.

And further, all the faithful members of the Church then living
and all the faithful saints of all ages past will be present.
It will be the greatest congregation of faithful saints ever assembled on planet earth. And it will take place in Daviess County, Missouri,
at a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman.
(Elder Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 578-579.

All my dear ones described above have had their temple work done, and I know they are among the faithful. What a great goal: to be worthy to reunite with them there, and it’s a hope we all have if we just remain faithful!

Tag: Adam-ondi-Ahman

A Feast of “Fat Things”

Fallen Petals: Who Will Be At Adam-ondi-Ahman?